Quantum Capital Group

Quantum Capital Group (Quantum) is one of the worst offenders on the Private Equity Climate Risks Scorecard, earning a D. As of the end of July, 2024, 95 percent of Quantum’s energy portfolio was invested in fossil fuels.

Historically an oil and gas investor, Quantum was founded in 1998 by Wil VanLoh, who is currently the CEO of the Houston-based firm with $26 billion in AUM as of August 2024. The firm has drilled over 1,700 wells from 2018 to 2023 and produces 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), according to the company. PECR estimates that Quantum is responsible for over 152 million metric tons of CO2e annually from its upstream operations and more than 5.7 million metric tons of CO2e annually from its LNG investments, for a total of 158 million metric tons of CO2e, which is the equivalent annual emissions of 36 coal-fired power plants.

Quantum’s CEO Wil VanLoh claimed the company is agnostic when it comes to energy investments in fossil fuels versus energy transition during the July 19, 2023 Oregon Investment Council meeting.  However, looking more closely, the firm’s investment practices still very heavily lean towards traditional exploration and extraction of fossil fuels. Quantum Energy Fund VII, which closed in 2018,  invested 72 percent of the fund in upstream oil and gas and the firm is targeting a 70 to 80 percent allocation in its open successor fund, Fund VIII.

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In Quantum’s 2023 ESG report, the company stated that a transition from fossil fuels would take decades and “may not be necessary”.  The company justifies drilling by lauding its investments in Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) and LNG in its 2023 ESG report. One of Quantum’s CCS investments, Project Canary, which certifies oil and gas operations as “responsibly sourced”, was shown to consistently fail to detect pollution events, according to research from EarthWorks.  The study further found that the company’s certification services and aggressive marketing are a means to justify continued extraction rather than reduce emissions, and that individuals in leadership positions at Project Canary also have direct financial ties to the gas companies they certify, creating possible conflicts of interest.